


Just Close Your Eyes (You'll Be Alright)

by universallongings



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, F/M, Fluff, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of violence and trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23161525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universallongings/pseuds/universallongings
Summary: As Tim and Lucy take a drive, she realizes that she's crossing another thing off her lists of firsts since...then.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 13
Kudos: 155





	Just Close Your Eyes (You'll Be Alright)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this little ficlet on Tumblr earlier this week in response to a post wondering about how Tim and Lucy got to the bakery at the end of 2x13, and I wanted to share it here too (with some edits because I'm an editor at heart and knew I could tweak it to make it better) in case anyone else wanted some Chenford fluff (with a healthy dose of Lucy introspection). 
> 
> This is my first fic in this fandom, and I just wanted to thank everyone who's reached out to me on Tumblr already for being so supportive and sweet. This really is the most wonderful little corner of fandom right now. 
> 
> The title of this fic comes from the Taylor Swift song "Safe and Sound." 
> 
> PS: I'm universallongings on Tumblr too if you want to say hi!

Lucy keeps track of her firsts since…then.

Her first night at home was terrifying. _(Her first night in the hospital was better—with a warm, steady hand holding hers until she finally fell asleep.)_ Her first shift was okay. Her first attempt at speed dating was disastrous. 

This was her first time in a car alone with a man since…then.

_(Since feeling like she’d lost all control and blacking out in a trunk and waking up to a tattoo gun on her ribs.)_

But she’s not afraid. She’s sitting in Tim's truck and listening to the Kings game on the radio and laughing as he tried to make her guess how he'd solved their money laundering problem, and she realized he was doing it again. 

He was trying to make it easier. 

For someone who prided himself on being the toughest T.O. of them all, there was a part of Tim Bradford that always seemed to make things easier for her when she needed it the most. It’s the part that made her focus on protocol when she got stabbed with that needle. The part that encouraged her to talk about revenge fantasies instead of the potential end of the world. 

_(The part that saved her life and then held her when she woke up still in a nightmare with no pity in his eyes or in his touch—just comfort.)_

As they drove, companionable silence eventually fell over them, and she let herself close her eyes for a second. It was still hard for her to close her eyes and sleep in her own apartment, but here, in this truck that smelled like coffee and his cologne, she felt safe. And she wanted to savor it. 

She didn’t let herself think about the fact that this feeling—this safety—might be gone in two weeks. She was happy for him. She was proud of him. But some tiny, selfish part of her heart didn’t want to let go of this…home. That’s what it was. In his truck, in their shop, in his arms—he was starting to feel like home.

“You okay?”

His voice was soft—gentle in a way she never could have guessed he was capable of sounding back when he was barking at her to walk until she knew where she was. And when she looked up at him, he was looking at her with a smile that made her feel a little more whole than she’d felt since…then.

“Yeah,” she sighed, meeting his warm eyes as he put the car in park around the block from the bakery. She covered his hand with hers over the steering wheel, giving it a small squeeze, and if she noticed the way his breathing hitched as she touched him, she’d never say. 

“I’m good.”


End file.
